Paper Doll
by LoriDeux
Summary: "I think you're like a dragonfly," he whispers after a few seconds of just staring at her. "Beautiful and unstoppable and captivating and misunderstood, all at the same time." / Or, the love story that everybody knows, told with a twist.


_**Well, you can fall for chains of silver**_

_**You can fall for chains of gold**_

_**You can fall for pretty strangers **_

_**And the promises they hold**_

-.-.-.-

There's a thick, red scarf wrapped around his neck.

It's the first thing she notices about him in the dark room. The music is blasting and her unaccustomed ears ache because of the sudden attack on her senses. Actually, come to think of it, her whole body aches; it's as if the protective shell that had encompassed her entire life had suddenly crumbled away and her physicality didn't quite know how to react to the new experience. Everything was just so _loud_.

She's not sure if she hates it, yet.

There are people surrounding her in every direction she turns, a sea of colors and heights and scents that both liberate and suffocate her; it makes her feel as if she were inside some sort of hourglass that threatened to drown her if she stayed still.

Her attention is stolen from the handsome stranger when she feels a firm hand tug at her arm. A pair of brown eyes are staring at her, and Jade has to force her scoff to stifle in her throat when her gaze lands on none other than Tori Vega. Tori's whole face shows her extreme discomfort and discontent with their situation, but Jade's had enough of her worried glances and knowing looks to last her a lifetime or to really give a damn.

It's not like she's her real friend anyways.

"Jade," Tori complains, tightening her hold on her arm when the girl in question makes to turn away. "We shouldn't be here."

"No," she snaps, before contradicting her and pulling her arm free from her grasp. "_You_ shouldn't be here; you should have just stayed at home and covered for me if anyone asked where I was."

"You know I can't do that."

"Of course," she retorts, allowing a sneer to form on her pretty features. "What would my father say?"

The brunette turns her gaze sideways, not being able to face the accusations being thrown her way. Tori's hands begin to fiddle with the frilly material at the bottom of her lavender blouse, a nervous habit Jade had learned to recognize in a heatbeat. The fact that her words were true didn't make them any easier to bear. For all the redeeming qualities that the Vega girl was incessantly praised for, she was still a sellout at the end of the day. Jade walks away then, heading towards the bar to grab a drink from the bartender that she already knows will give her hell over her lack of ID.

It doesn't matter, though; she's never been one to drown her sorrows in a bottle.

She's been sitting by herself on an empty stall in the far edge of the bar while she contemplates every oddity in her life for maybe seven minutes when a voice breaks her out of her thoughts. "Hey," she hears being called from behind her. Jade turns around and is met with a different set of brown eyes.

Upon first impressions, she's sure she knows his type.

His shirt is black and from what she can make from the dim lighting, his jeans are a washed-out dark grey. He's wearing a leather jacket that bunches at his shoulders and highlights the growing muscles underneath, along with that red scarf that had captivated her attention because it simply contradicted so much with the rebel-without-a-cause image he was obviously trying to project. His smile is shy and welcoming, as if he was debating whether or not he was worthy of even speaking to her, and it makes her feel sick.

Jade's had more than her fair share of people pretending to be someone they're not just to get in her good graces, and this boy with the seemingly sad eyes and the small smile was not going to be some magical exception. Every instinct her body possesses is yelling at her to move away before she's trapped in the web he'll more than likely try to spin around her. Boys like him should be forced to come with a sign that read _Heartbreak_ and _Liar_ in neon letters.

Or maybe it's the fact that she has a nudging feeling in the pit of her gut that it's not a charade.

When his smile widens at her, she feels the hairs in the nape of her neck stand up and she shivers at the small voice that whispers against her ear like a lover's touch that _maybe_ she can trust him.

"Hey," she finally answers back, arching an eyebrow in an open invitation for him to further explain himself.

"I know this is going to sound really weird," he starts off, running a hand through his hair and halfway avoiding her stern gaze. "I just, I saw you from across the floor and I just felt like I had to at least meet you."

"I'm Beck," he rushes out when she only narrows her eyes into scrutinizing slits, and even with the dim lighting Jade can see the red blush that crawls its way up his neck and onto his cheeks.

"I don't know what kind of girls you usually go after, but I don't fall for cheesy pick-up lines," she retorts after a few seconds of silence.

"It wasn't a line," the stranger, _Beck_, shrugs, sticking his hands inside the front pockets of his jeans but returning her stare without faltering; allowing her to judge the sincerity of his words. Jade does so, searching his eyes for any traces of underlying humor or deceit that would give away his good-guy front and allowing a small sigh of relief she hadn't even been aware she was holding when she can find none.

"Then you really have to work on your delivery," she replies, before lifting the glass in front of her to her lips and taking a sip of her Diet Coke on the rocks. "Jade."

"Would you like to dance, Jade?"

"No," she answers immediately, and she almost laughs at the defeated and perplexed look that crosses his face. "I don't like to dance much, but you're welcomed to sit down with me for a while, if you're interested."

Beck nods as he climbs up the two steps that separate them until he can comfortably sit down on the stool beside hers, and a grin tugs at his lips when he catches her staring at his vibrant scarf.

"It's kind of out there, isn't it?" he asks her, and she finds it kind of adorable the way in which he sounds so bashful; a stark comparison to the self-assured and arrogant people she dealt with every day.

"Lil' bit," she agrees, laughing softly when the blush returns to his cheeks and feeling the need to reassure him. "It's okay, though; I like it."

"Enough to try out a dance with me?"

"Maybe," she answers noncommittally, but she's pretty sure she'll give in by the end of the night if he sticks around and continues to prove he's not a complete douche underneath it all.

They talk for a while after that. Well, more like _he_ talks and she listens, and for once that doesn't bother her. It's kind of nice, actually.

But then she spots Tori's distraught expression as she argues with a few girls in the middle of the dance floor, her attention clearly distracted when a blonde dressed in a ridiculous pink dress pulls at the strands of her hair, and Jade decides to for once in her life listen to her instincts; consequences be damned.

This is her chance at freedom… at least for the night.

"Do you want to get out of here?" she interrupts him, quick to clarify herself when his eyes widen in confusion. "It's kind of stuffy in here, and I'd like to get some air."

He raises an eyebrow at her, but goes along with her suggestion without asking anymore questions when he notices the almost pleading expression that crosses her features, even as she tries to hide her desperation to leave.

They make their way towards the exit and out of the club, and Jade turns her head to look over her shoulder just in time to see Tori's gaze land on her and try to fight her way through the crowd to stop her. She's too late though, because Jade's out the door in an instant and running away from the rain that's currently pouring down in the heart of Los Angeles with Beck by her side. They turn the corner of the club, making a quick dash down the alley beside it until they're standing underneath a hanging curtain for cover.

She groans when she realizes that the rain has absolutely spoiled her dress, making the dark cotton material cling to her body like a second skin. The natural waves and curls in her hair are now soaked and flat, and she can already feel the tangles beginning to form on the tips of every strand. She looks up, and a laugh escapes her when she sees Beck trying to shake the rain out of his hair and it flopping across his forehead in return. There's a big smile across his lips, and he laughs in return when some of the water lands on her.

And then he's kissing her.

His hands hold onto her hips as hers arms wrap around his shoulders. Beck pulls her closer to himself before moving his body until they're both pressed against the wall. Jade can feel the vibrations of the speakers from inside the club against her back, sending shivers down her spine. A gasp escapes her lips when his hips grind against hers, and he uses the opportunity to slip his tongue into her opened mouth. Jade moans when he buries his hand in the base of her hair, and one of her legs lifts to wrap itself around his waist.

She's not sure how to handle the sensations.

Everything felt new and exciting. She feels tendrils of _electricity_ pulsing and radiating from anywhere his fingers and lips touched and her body felt like it was on fire. A heat she'd never really felt before begins to form in the pit of her stomach and all she wants to do is kiss him. She knows that rationality is leaving her mind and she can't find a reason to care; she'd much rather allow the sound of the rain pounding against the pavement and empty buildings wash away her concerns. His crotch presses against hers again, and she feels something hard come in contact with her thigh.

That's about the same time that her common sense returns.

"Wait," she breathes out, separating her lips from his and trying to regain her breath while untangling her leg from around his body. "We can't do this."

He sighs, leaning his head back from her so she can breathe but still not letting go of her completely. "I know."

"I'm sorry," she rushes out, but she's not even completely sure why she's apologizing.

"No, it's okay," he reassures her, squeezing her hip one last time before letting go of her. "You're right; just got kind of carried away."

Jade feels the awkwardness growing between them, and she scolds herself for losing her head the way she did. She's tempted to go back inside the club to look for Tori so she can take her home when she realizes that Beck's talking to her again.

"Do you," he murmurs out, and the tint is back on his cheeks as he stares straight at her eyes. "_Can_ you trust me enough for me to show you something?"

She knows she shouldn't be, but she's intrigued. "What is it?"

"We kind of have to drive to get there," he admits, tapping his fingers against his leg in what she can only assume is a nervous habit. "I swear I'm not some sort of creep or anything, I just have a feeling that you'd be able to appreciate it."

Her lips part and every reason why she shouldn't agree crosses through her mind. She doesn't really know him, and he could turn out to be some sort of sociopath out on the loose. Her father will throw a fit when he finds out she's not in her room, or when Tori rats her out; whichever one came first. Reason after reason flows through her mind, and her rational side is yelling at her that she should say 'no'.

Except, she doesn't want to.

She wants to be free.

"Show me," she answers, and the smile that forms on his face is enough to make her feel confident in her choice and to chase away all the malicious comments that are nudging at her conscious. Sure, she might be making the biggest mistake of her life, but at this moment, she doesn't care.

Beck grabs onto her hand, linking their fingers together and leading her towards his car in the parking lot. She's surprised to see the sky-blue classic Falcon he drives, and when she turns to stare at him with a quizzical expression, he just shrugs it off and gives her some response about how he inherited it from his great uncle or something of the sorts. She doesn't really pay it much attention.

He turns on the radio and the sound of an old Lou Reed song fills the space inside the cabinet. Jade relaxes herself into the seat, closing her eyes and missing the grin that forms on his lips when he catches her silently singing along to the lyrics. Neither one speaks, but that suits them both just fine.

The drive takes about twenty minutes, and Jade spends the entire time watching the buildings they passed by in a blur. She watches as they change from factories to homes to markets and traffic signs and street lights until, finally, the only thing left is the road and the mountainside.

Beck stops the car, parking next to the start of a hiking trail. A quick glance at her phone reminds her that it's already past midnight; way past the time she should have been home. When he gets off the car and rounds it to open her door, she's hesitant to get off. He wants her to walk into the woods with him in the middle of the night?

"Are you planning to murder me and ditch my body here or something?" she asks teasingly, but he can hear the slight panic underneath her question. She's afraid, and he knows it.

"Kind of late to ask if I'm a serial killer, don't you think?"

Against her will, her eyes widen and her breath hitches in her throat. "Kind of."

"Don't worry, I just want to show you this place I found up here a couple months ago," he explains, offering his hand for her to grab and trying to be as comforting as he possibly could. He doesn't want her to fear him; he wants her to trust him. "It's about a fifteen minute hike from here."

"What if we get lost?"

"I know the path by memory; promise we won't."

"But," she starts off, and he interrupts her before she can start asking any more questions.

"Trust me," he requests, and for some odd reason, she does.

-.-.-.-

It takes them twenty minutes to get to his mysterious spot.

She almost trips over her heels, _twice_, and she's about to tell him that she's done with this whole thing and that she wants to go home when he proudly announces that they have arrived.

What she sees takes her breath away.

There's a small stream running down the mountain path, resembling a pond more than anything. While it'd been raining in the city, this area seemed to have been unaffected and everything was dry and solid around her. Surrounding the body of water were about a dozen different plants and bushes; some containing flowers and roses and others not. There's a path of clean grass besides the water, and Jade's thankful for the relief from the rocky path they'd been following. For a moment, she forgets that she's there with a boy she barely knows and that her father will be angry and that Tori's probably looking for her and everything else that's wrong with her life. The only thing that matters is the moon and the way its light was reflected on the water; the way everything _shimmers_.

For the first time since she was nine, she feels peace.

"How did you find this place?" she asks him when they sit down on the grass. She's leaning back against a small boulder and her legs are stretched out in front of her.

"I um, sort of got lost the first time I came hiking up here," he confesses, smiling when she grins at him.

He sits down on the grass and she follows suit, stretching out her legs in front of her and wiling the cramps that threatened to form from the exercise away.

They sit there, in the quiet and peace, and simply talk.

He tells her about his friends and how he grew up with them. She smiles and listens intently when he rambles on about his talented best friend, who was apparently some sort of musical prodigy, and the other one who carried a puppet for a few years. She laughs when he recounts one of their high school experiences where they ended up dressing-up as food and singing to children for cash.

He doesn't mention the fact that he didn't need it.

When she asks him what he's majoring in, his smile turns bashful.

"I want to be an actor," he admits, shifting his gaze away from her and waiting for the teasing taunts to begin.

"Why?" she questions him, arching one of her delicate eyebrows in curiosity.

"I like telling stories that would otherwise never be heard," Beck replies. "What about you; what do you want to do?"

"I'm not sure yet."

"Come on," he nudges her. "You have to have at least an idea of what you want to do."

"I don't."

"Nothing?"

"Nope," she answers; cutting and bluntly.

"I don't believe you," he states, staring at her until she has the unsettling feeling that he can see right through any front she puts up. "Never mind what anybody else thinks; just say the first thing that comes to your mind when you think of your future."

She thinks for a second.

"Writing."

And she realizes how much she really wants it. She can picture herself sitting down in a cabin with a mug of hot chocolate beside her and a cat cuddled up on her lap. She can imagine a world away from everything and everyone; a place where she can be herself and nobody would have any say in her decisions. She could spend her days writing novels and poetry and doing something that touched her soul; something that only belonged to her and no one else.

She would be truly free.

But it's all a shot dream.

"See! That's more like it!"

"You're insane, you know that?" she questions him, fighting the disbelief at his enthusiasm over simply getting her to admit one of her untouchable dreams. It was contagious.

"Well, you followed me into the woods so I can pretty much say the same goes to you."

"Thank you for bringing me up here," she answers instead, moving the subject away from the dangerous fields they were trotting. "It's beautiful."

"It is," he agrees, but he's not looking at the scenery.

He's staring right at her.

"Beck," she murmurs, but he's already leaning forward and pressing his lips against hers in a chaste kiss.

This time, it's _her_ who presses for more.

She pulls him closer to her, kissing him until she feels her lips swell from the nips his teeth make on them. She shrugs out of her thin sweater and helps him shove off his leather jacket from his shoulders. They're both kneeling right in front of the other and Jade drops her hands until they're pulling at the hem of his shirt. He gets the point and tears it off his body, exposing tan skin and a fit physique she already knew would be there.

And then he's gently pushing her back against the grassy floor. She settles down until she's on her back and he sticks his folded jacket under her head as a make-shift pillow. His lips return to hers and everything feels numb and excruciating at the same time. Her arms wrap around his neck and his mouth drops to her shoulder, trailing open-mouthed kisses on every inch of exposed skin.

None of it was platonic, but it somehow felt innocent; like two children playing at being lovers for the first time.

"Beck," she whispers, and she's not sure what she's asking for, but she just knows she wants _more _and that he can give it to her. Her hands reach for his belt, struggling to unlatch it when one of his hands halts her. He wraps his fingers around them and lifts their hands until they're resting on her stomach.

"Are you sure you want to do this?"

He looks her straight in the eye, evaluating her composure and searching for any clues that she's not comfortable with what they're doing. She knows that if he thinks she's not sure, he'll stop, and she really doesn't want that to happen.

Because this was _hers_ and nobody could take it from her. _She_ would be the only one to decide and she knows that even if she grew to regret it, she would never regret the fact that it'd been her decision.

So she kisses him again, and then everything gets hazy.

She feels when his hands start pushing at the material of her dress, lifting it up her body until it bunches around her waist and her thighs are exposed. His hands pull at her underwear and she moves her legs to make it easier for him to slide them off. His mouth is back on hers and she gasps when she feels his hand touching her core, eliciting shivers of pleasure she'd never experienced before.

His fingers and thumb continue to caress her while his lips and tongue trailed a path of fire on her neck and shoulders, and she can feel something growing between her legs and waiting for the perfect touch to snap. Jade hears when he pulls down the zipper of his jeans, shoving them down along with his boxers just until they're at his knees and then he's pushing inside of her and everything stops.

She groans and lets out a soft yelp when a harsh sting of pain shoots through her body. Everything feels odd and uncomfortable and she's torn between wanting to shove him off her and demanding that he do something; _anything_.

"Did I hurt you?"

She can hear the sincerity and concern in his voice, and that somehow makes her feel better. At least he's not some creep who only cares about himself. "No," she lies, but her voice is quiet and high-strung and he can tell that she's lying. "It just feels a little uncomfortable."

"It's supposed to pass after a few minutes," he tries to comfort him, but she can feel the tenseness of his muscles underneath her fingers. "Tell me to stop if it doesn't."

And then he's moving again.

Jade closes her eyes, allowing the sensations to wash over her body. The pain she'd originally felt is replaced by something that's not painful or pleasurable, but something else that she can't explain. He's moving inside of her; kissing her and touching her in places no one else had before and everything feels wonderful and horrible at the same time and it makes her want to scream until her throat dries and her lungs burn because she shouldn't be doing this.

God, he's basically a _stranger_.

But then something snaps inside of her and wave of pleasure crashes over her body. Her fingers and toes turn numb and everything seems to tighten inside of her for two seconds before it stops and all she can feel is heat and the way his chest rubs against her still covered breasts and everything is wrong but right and she doesn't know what to do.

A few seconds later and she can feel when he releases himself inside her body. He collapses on top of her and rests there for a minute before rolling beside her to avoid crushing her smaller frame. Jade quickly pushes the material of her dress down her hips, as if covering her nakedness would somehow erase what they'd just done.

As if she actually wanted it to, which she doesn't.

She doesn't know what the hell she wants.

The wind picks up, attacking her sensitized body and she feels cold and empty and she just want to go home and sleep in her bed for days on-end.

She turns her head to meet his gaze and there's a loving smile on his lips. His eyes are joyful and he looks so young but wise that it makes her want to close her eyes and start crying because how is it possible that she could do this with somebody she barely knows. How could she have been so stupid and reckless? Then it hits her.

She'd given her virginity away to a boy she'd just met.

She can't decide whether she wants to laugh or cry more but then his hand comes up to cup her cheek and push away a strand of hair from her face, carefully tucking it behind her ear, and she thinks that maybe this was the way that things were supposed to be because this boy she just met made her feel beautiful and free.

Even if it was just for the night.

"I think you're like a dragonfly," he whispers after a few seconds of just staring at her. "Beautiful and unstoppable and captivating and misunderstood, all at the same time."

That's when she starts to cry.

-.-.-.-

_**AN: Um, I know. **_

_**So, I'm trying out a different way of writing. Bear with me. **_

_**Also, thanks for all your awesome feedback on Sometime Around Midnight and Sway. I'll try to upload the finale for SaM this week. **_

_**I was trying to finish it this weekend but I went off and got engaged instead!**_

_**Don't forget to review! I'm really curious about your thoughts on this one :)**_

_**-Lori **_


End file.
